We plan to travel to Tuscany/Umbria for 5 days in May and would like to stay in one of the hill towns as a base & visit other hill towns nearby. We will be bringing my mother who is 73 years old and we're concerned that the 'hill' towns will live up to their name & cause us problems in traversing the towns. I know that some hill towns are more hilly than others... but wanted to get suggestions from the seasoned travelers here about which ones might be most appropriate given our concerns.

We would like to get a central base in Tuscany/Umbria & take day trips out. Towns/areas of interest include: Montepulciano & Pienza; Siena & San Gimignano; Cortona; Assisi & Spello; Orvieto & Todi & Spoleto; It's unlikely that we'll hit all of these in our limited time there, but we'll do what we can.

Any suggestions on the most 'elderly-friendly' of these towns? In the town in which we sleep, we want to stay at a hotel in town (not outside of town). And, for staying/sightseeing, we're happy to drive (we'll have a car) or take a shuttle bus or elevator/funicular up to the town, but once there it would be preferable if my mother weren't having to climb a lot of long, steep hills in the center of town all the time. Please help!

Chuck4u

The flat "hill town" is Lucca. It has a nice wall turned park. Other than that it's major draws are it's easy to get to, easy for mobility challenged people to negotiate and not as crowded as other hill towns.

Pienza, Siena, Florence, Greve in Chianti, and Orvieto (once you get to the top on the funicular) are all quite pedestrian friendly, even for poor walkers. Montepulciano less so if I recall correctly, and San Gimignano not at all. Monteriggioni is a bit of a hike up from the parking lot, but once inside the walls, it is a piece of cake.

Does your mom know the mountaineer step? Instead of striding right up a slope the way you might on level ground, you move foot A forward, put the weight on it, bring foot B up beside it, then swing forward on foot B. Each step goes half as far with half the effort, and you will eventually get there.

Another option is Orvieto. It's not too steep to walk around (you can drive or take a funicular to the top). It sits on top of a table of rock (Tuffa?) with cliffs all around. It has a great Cathedral. The underground is worth visiting (but means climbing/descending stairs that might not be suitable for your mother).

I haven't been to Assisi yet. Because of the volume of religious visitors I would guess they are more accomodating than most Italian hill towns for people with less mobility.

Very steep-

Montepulciano
Cortona (the main street is flat, but the rest of the town is quite steep)
Spello
Spoleto
Todi

Less steep, but still may be a challenge-

Siena
San Gimignano
Assisi

Flat-

Orvieto
Pienza

With only 5 days, I suggest visiting either Tuscany or Umbria, but not both. The trip will be much more rewarding and easy with drives of not over 1 hour from your base.

Pienza is very central for exploring many villages/towns, sights, Siena and beautiful countryside. There is enough to explore within an hours drive that will fill your 5 days.

In Umbria, Bavagna is flat, has easy parking and is a good central base for visitng most of the towns in Umbria on your list. Orvieto will be a 1.5 drive, but the rest are within an hour.

Suggested guidebooks to point you in the right direction-

Insight Guide Tuscany
Rought Guide Tuscany
Touring Club of Italy Umbria

You have 3 good options for a centro base that is flat.
In Tuscany, Pienza and San Quirico---I prefer the latter.
In Umbria, I suggest Bevagna---nice town and good location.

I know my way around Bevagna, I think, better than my home town here in the US. Its flat, has a main street, two nice churches and good food and wine. (Montefalco, with its Sagrantino , is nearby.)

The owner of Enoteca Piazza Onofri has a dozen recently remodeled apartments in the center of town and parking is a breeze.

Does your 73 year old mother have mobility or health issues? If she doesn't there should be no problems. My mother who is 71, with no health issues, had no problems navigating any of the Umbrian hill towns on foot, including Assisi, Todi, Orvieto, Spoleto, and Gubbio. Age is just a number--it is fitness that counts!!

Publius, Ackislander, zoecat, & bobthenavigator-- THANK YOU! This is EXTREMELY helpful... & my mother will be most appreciative!!!

If I'm reading correctly, my best bets for less hilly hill towns (once I get up there) are Lucca, Florence, Greve, Pienza, San Quirico, Orvietto, Assisi, & Bevagna... and possibly Siena & San Gimignano. I've been to only one of Siena & would agree that it's moderate difficulty-- but the others I've not been to. Given our potential itineraries, I'm leaning toward Pienza (or San Quirico), Orvietto (& we would consider Siena or Bevagna-- but they're a little less central to the area we'd like to travel in).

Which of these towns do you think would be a good base for us? Obviously, a key consideration would be where we plan to do day trips-- but, let's remove that consideration for now. As a base (& also to visit), we'd prefer a town that is a little smaller/quaint but is not too sleepy either (we want to see some shops open, people out after 8 PM strolling the streets, enjoying dinner or dessert or music in a square, etc. but not partying like crazy in to the wee hours), great atmosphere/old world charm, nice little squares/great narrow side streets, good views, shopping, good restaurants/food, ability to park within a reasonable distance, etc.

And, do you have suggestions on some good in-town hotels in these places (big rooms & big bathrooms/showers, old world building but with comfortable beds, & modern showers, light fixtures, etc. as well as satellite TV, good Internet connectivity, etc., with views & parking within a reasonable distance?

Thanks again!!!

Chuck4u

If you are spending 5 days in one place, look into an apartment. You will have more room, and a place besides a bedroom to relax in. Plus a kitchenette. We never stay in hotels if we can avoid it.
Look at sleepinitaly.com, VRBO.com, or rentvillas.com, and italyperfect.com.

I am very much a fan of Orvieto, so I would urge you to stay there.

Oh, and I forgot to say, we are in our 70s, and we have no problems in Orvieto.

Someone mentioned that Todi is steep, but there is an elevator from the parking lot at the bottom of the town to the fairly level top.

In Assisi, there is mini-bus service from one parking lot to the center and an escalator from another lot.

I agree with SAB that unless your mother has mobility or stamina issues, many towns would work. Once you've narrowed your search, look into parking and related services like shuttle bus, escalator, funicular, etc. Check with hotels to see if you will be able to drive into the towns to deposit luggage (and mom!) on arrival.

Chuck; If you want to be centrally located, bevagna, Siena or Montefalco would be good choices to go in any direction. Orvieto is too far south and Lucca too far north, to be considered a central location. Just know, it's two and a half hours one way between those two towns. You need to be in the middle somewhere. We love Orvieto and like Lucca. But you need a map, then select a base and plan that one hours drive in any direction is only going to get you 45 to 50 miles out, if that.

San Quirico is the definitive Tuscan villge---the River City of Tuscany Stu once said---and I agree.
Look at Palazzo del Capitano---hard to beat.

Hey zoecat, bobthenavigator & friends- Any thoughts on how flat or hilly Montalcino is in the main town?

Montalcino is quite steep, but lovely.

I've visited/stayed in all the towns above (except Spoleto) and completely agree with Zoecat's assessments of steepness.

My fiance had a bad knee and thought Montalcino and Montepulciano were painfully steep (thank goodness for the wonderful vino!). Since then, he's had that knee replaced and is anxious to get back there to experience those hill towns without wincing.

I remember Spoleto as being very steep, too.

As bases, Orvieto and Montefalco are up on a mesa and hill respectively. So any excursion requires you to get down to the main road and then back up when you return. Montalcino is on a hill too, but in my memory it didn't seem such chore to get to.

Pienza, San Quirico and Bevagna are on the flat, easy to get into and out of, and centrally located.

DRJ, SAB, charnees, Jean, iris1745, Dayle, hazel1, & Mimar- THANK YOU so much for your added insights. I really feel like I'm getting a sense of the various towns. Thanks again for your insights & help-- much appreciated! Chuck4u